A holiday in Boston will reward with a glimpse back into America’s past while enjoying a rollicking social scene. Travellers to America’s New England area are frequently astounded at the cultural diversity and depth of history, especially in Boston. With a history extending beyond 1773 when chests of tea were dumped into Boston harbour in the infamous “Boston Tea Party” which effectively launched the American war of Independence, Boston maintains a deep sense of its place in American History.

A small city by global standards, Boston punches well above its weight in its influence in national and global affairs. With over 50 universities and colleges, including the world famous Ivy League institutions such as Harvard, educating more than 100,000 students at any time, Boston society is a concoction of intellectual, economic and political debate, sports madness and vibrant nightlife.

The best way to take in Boston is to pull on a pair of walking shoes, grab a map and hit the streets. Visitors are encouraged to walk the Freedom Trail, a 4km trek that celebrates the history of the region and its place in the American Revolution, as well as offering views of the architecture and parklands which make the city such a centre of serenity.

Such a large youthful population ensures that recreation figures very high in a Bostonian’s mind. The ever increasing ring of parks around the city offer opportunities for cycling, basketball, baseball and football, the perfect antidote to the night-time excesses enjoyed in the city’s eateries and bars.

Take a couple of days to visit nearby points of interest. Sleepy Concord, a nearby village is reputedly the site of the second Battle of Independence. Then there’s Salem, a little seaside town with a very grisly past. About an hour south is Plymouth, where the Pilgrim Fathers made their first settlement in 1620. Just a little further and you’re in Cape Cod, a well-heeled region where many of New England’s elite have summer homes. Just off the coast of Cape Cod are the twin islands of Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket which are the summer destination of choice for over 150,000 Bostonians.

Boston is known as Beantown due to its local delicacy of baked beans and molasses

In 1919 an accident released millions of litres of molasses onto Boston’s streets, killing 21 people

From 1659 to 1681, it was against the law to celebrate Christmas in Boston because the pilgrims thought it was debauched